How to Use Microsoft Teams for Free

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Lance Whitney

Jan. 23, 2019, 12:56 a.m.

If you run your own business or are part of a working group inside a larger company, chances are you need somewhere to communicate and collaborate with those inside and outside your organization. You no longer need to worry about pricey collaboration tools like Office 365 and SharePoint now that Microsoft Teams is free to use.

In the past, Microsoft offered only business-oriented Teams subscriptions that carried a monthly price tag. However, in order to compete with services like Slack, Microsoft unveiled a free edition of Teams in 2018 that offers a variety of benefits.

With the free flavor of Microsoft Teams, you get unlimited chats, audio and video calls, and 10GB of file storage for your entire team, plus 2GB of personal storage for each individual. Microsoft Teams integrates with all the Office Online apps, including Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, and with more than 140 business apps. Add as many as 300 people to your network of contacts, who can be inside or outside your organization.

Be aware that the free version of Microsoft Teams is only available to those without a paid commercial Office 365 subscription. Office 365 subscribers who try to sign up for Teams are redirected to a managed account for their existing plan. Customers who don't have a Teams license as part of an Office 365 subscription can sign up for a free one-year trial.

If you have an Office 365 subscription and still want to use Teams for free, you can simply sign up with a different email address. You just need to use an email address that's registered as a Microsoft account.

Sign Up for Microsoft Teams

To get started with Teams for free, browse to the Microsoft Teams web page and sign up for an account. Here, you can compare the free service to a paid plan and make your final decision before signing up.

Upgrade to the Desktop App

The Teams web app is fine for most of the basic features, but to take full advantage of this service, you'll want to install the desktop app. If you don't download it during the initial setup, get it from the Download Teams website and select the version for Windows 7+ (which includes Window 10) or Mac OS X 10.10+, which will allow you to use all the features for virtual meetings, such as screen sharing and the whiteboard.

Download the Mobile App

You should also install the mobile version of Microsoft Teams (iOS, Android), which offers many of the same features found on the desktop app, and will help you stay in contact with your team on the go.

Set Up Your Teams Account

However you decide to sign up, you will have to enter an email address to use with your account. This must be linked to a Microsoft Account in order to work. Continue through the sign-up process by entering a password and the name of the company you are associated with. You will also be given the choice to use the Teams Windows app or stick with the web version. For simplicity’s sake, we will be using the web app here.

Create Your Organization

At the initial Teams window, you can choose your display name and upload a photo of yourself. Then invite others to join your team by entering their email addresses. You can add a display name for each person in the right column. Click on the Add more link if you need spaces for more addresses. Click the button to Send Invites and then close the invites window.

The people you invited will receive an invitation notice via email and can join your team by clicking the attached link. They will then be taken to Microsoft Teams, where they can also choose a display name and add a photo. At this point, you can now start using all the features included in the free version of Teams.

Start a Conversation

The first task you might want to tackle is to start a conversation welcoming everyone to your team. The Teams tab allows you to interact with all the members of your organization. Tap the text field inside this tab and type your words of welcome. Check out the icons below the field to format your text, add an emoji or GIF, and more. Anyone else on the team can then reply to your message and get the conversation rolling.

Share Files

You can share a file with everyone on your team. Click on the paper clip Attach icon and select the file you want to share. You can choose a file from your Microsoft Teams site, from OneDrive, or from your computer.

Opening Microsoft Office Files

If you share a Microsoft Office file (Word document, Excel spreadsheet, PowerPoint presentation, or OneNote notebook), each person on the team can click on the file to view it within the Teams interface.

To modify the file, click on the Edit button and select the option to edit it in the corresponding Office Online application. In the Office Online app, the team members can now edit the file in the browser or in the full version of the Office application if loaded on their computers.

Start a Private Chat

Instead of talking to the entire team, you can chat privately with another person or group. To get started, click on the Chat icon on the left toolbar. Click on the link for Private chat and calling to play a short video on the chat feature. Then, click on the New Chat icon at the top of the screen.

When starting a brand new chat, enter the person or persons you want to talk with in the To field at the top of the screen. Type your message in the New Message field at the bottom and click Send. Existing chats will be saved on the left-hand side of the screen for easy access.

Start a Live Virtual Meeting

Unlike other digital workplaces, Teams has a built-in tool for audio and video conferencing. To use this feature, you'll need to be working in Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, or running the Windows Teams app.

On your Teams page, click the Meet now button by the text field to kick off a live virtual meeting. The first time you do this, you're asked to allow Microsoft Teams to use your microphone and camera.

Before the meeting launches, you have the opportunity to change some details. You can add a subject for your meeting. Decide whether you want to hold an audio or video meeting. Click on the Meet now button to officially launch the meeting.

Inside the Virtual Meeting Place

At the meeting window, click on the names of the other people you want to join. You can then conduct your meeting. Inside the Virtual Meeting screen, you have options to control the video and audio feed, cast to another screen, edit other settings, and end the call.

While Microsoft Edge and the Teams desktop application support both video and audio chats, Chrome only supports audio chats for now.

App Integration

You can add and integrate different apps and services into Teams in order to expand its functionality. Click on the icon for Store at the bottom of the left-hand menu bar. Select the app you wish to install. At the setup screen, choose your team and then click on the Install button.

Using Integrated Apps

Teams can integrate with many different Microsoft and third-party services, like project management apps Trello and Asana, productivity apps like Evernote and SurveyMonkey, other utilities like Polly and GitHub, and so much more.

Once an app has been integrated with Teams, you will have access to the app directly from your Teams page. For instance, if you install the News app, a button for it will appear, which will allow you to add content from the app directly into your conversations.

About the Author

Surviving a long and varied career in publishing, advertising, and IT, Lance Whitney now wears a few different technology hats. By day, he's a journalist, software trainer, and sometime Web developer. By night, he's asleep. These days, he writes news stories, columns, and reviews for CNET and other technology sites and publications. He;s written two books for Wiley & Sons: Windows 8 Five Minutes at a Time in 2012, and Teach Yourself VISUALLY LinkedIn in 2014. Contact Lance via Facebook, Twitter, or LinkedIn. See Full Bio